Eight Things Government Can Do To Help Small Business

In case you missed it, Idaho's Congressman, Walt Minnick, spoke to a group of entrepeneurs and small business owners at VengaWorks today. The topic of conversation got heated, and at times off-topic, but I wanted to share a few take-aways. I admit, I'm not typically interested in discussing politics, but what he had to say about small business makes me very interested as it applies to all of us!

8 Things Gov't Can do to Help Small Business Grow & Keep us Globally Competitive (via Congressman Walt Minnick, paraphrased by Allison Ashburn)

1. Balance the budget.
We can't cut taxes because we've run up so much debt. We've dug ourselves a big hole by borrowing from our children, grandchildren & China. The Congressman suggested that government could help in this by cutting unnecessary programs and be selective about new programs.

2. Upgrade quality of & access to education.
Government needs to create new ways of delivering education and we need to invest in our kids!
3. Provide certainty to the issue of climate change & regulations.
The climate change issue will increasingly affect business owners and consumers. The government needs to provide certainty on what the regulations are so that innovators can innovate and consumers can make choices.

4. Reduce international trade barriers.
Government needs to resisit the temptation to be protectionists.

5. Retain incentives to help entrepenuers.
Tax credits, etc

6. Embrace new view of immigration reform.
Government needs to resist the temptation to build a wall around America. We absolutely shouldn't reward people for violating America's laws, but instead, we should think of immigration from a different viewpoint. How about allowing America access to global talent markets so we can remain competitive...We need to find a better way to allow our businesses to attract high skilled talent from across the globe.

7. Spend money on private sector research on a local level.
The private sectors is the key to innovation!

8. Provide access to capital.
We need to provide captial not just through banks but also through early stage venture capital.


A few other things Walt Minnick mentioned about the state of our ecomomy are:
He feels that unless the market takes another dip, we are heading out of the recession but "recovery will be long and slow due to financing" & that we'll experience a "high unemployment atmosphere for the foreseeable future."

In addition, the Congressman reiterated what a lot of businesses are experiencing first hand--"since the banking system is not functioning in it's ability to lend, it hinders small businesses ability to expand or operate." However we'll experience a "low interest rate environment for a while, unless the government continues to mismanage it's affairs."

As I said, I normally don't ever feel compelled to talk politics, but these subjects affect everyone in our local market. If you missed the event, I hope you enjoyed a very brief summary of what was covered and I hope you experience business success in 2010!!!